On April Fools’ Day in 1957 almost everyone in the UK got fooled by a 3-minute news report broadcast featured in the BBC world news TV show “Panorama”. The audience watched with great attention and astonishment how a family in Switzerland is joyfully harvesting spaghetti sticks from the family’s “spaghetti tree” planted in the back yard of the house.
It turns out that at the time spaghetti was actually considered an exotic food and very little people were aware it was actually made out of water and wheat flour. To make the phony broadcast even more believable it was narrated by the well respected broadcaster Richard Dimbleby.
The Swiss Spaghetti hoax was so successful that it generated an enormous response from the audience. The very next day after millions watched it on live TV BBC’s phones started ringing frantically. People were curious to find out exactly how to grow the infamous spaghetti tree in their own back yards and were curious to get some tips. The BBC’s alleged response was just to put a sprig of spaghetti in a big tin of tomato sauce and just hope for the best.
To this day on the infamous “Panorama” broadcast remains as one of the most elaborate and popular April Fool’s Day jokes of all time which was orchestrated by a serious news media.]\
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